What is your role at HIOBS?
I am an Assistant Instructor in the land program. I instruct backpacking and canoeing courses for teens/adults ages 15-21 out of our Newry Base in western Maine.
How did you decide to work for HIOBS?
I’ve always been into the outdoors… and I got into outdoor leadership in college. I thought spending summers leading outdoor expeditions for teenagers would be a lot of fun, so I explored a few organizations and companies in the field and HIOBS stood out to me. I really took to the mission of using a challenging outdoor experience for character development and self-discovery.
What do you like best about working for HIOBS?
I just love working with the students and seeing how much they can learn about themselves and grow during a HIOBS course. Especially toward the end of courses, when students reflect on the experience and talk about how they plan on transferring the life-lessons they’ve learned back to their life at home—those moments can be very inspiring.
What is one of your favorite course memories?
There are so many. Moments of struggle and perseverance on marathon hiking or canoeing days or when the weather is terrible, moments of happy camaraderie at camp or at a summit-lunch on a nice day, moments of brilliant teamwork and effective, assertive communication, moments of powerful reflection during solo or at the end of course… all these add up to a complete OB course!
Choose one word to sum up HIOBS.
Compassion.
When you are not at work, what do you enjoy doing?
I like to spend time in the outdoors (as you might expect). I enjoy skiing, cycling and mountain biking. I like to play and listen to music, I like to read a lot, and I like to spend time with friends and family.